Source: snapvoip.blogspot.com

What ever Google did with Google Phone and subsequent Android and OHA seem to have shaken the communication world a bit. Just like the Google’s interest in wireless spectrum bid did make wireless providers run for court rooms and open spaces, like Verizon and AT&T.
The Linux Phone Standards (LiPS) Forum, which is 2 year old now and unlike industry groups such as the OHA and LiMo (Linux Mobile Foundation), which are writing actual code for cross-licensing among members, LiPS has taken on the ambitious goal of defining real standards, but was dormat for a while, I was wondering at one time if they were dead. No I think the it is very alive now!.

LiPS Executive Director Bill Weinberg explains, "Our goal is to create a freestanding, actual specification that exists as a real standard, and is not beholden to any one implementation."
Weinberg admits that the challenge is in moving from paper standards to real implementations and then to widespread adoption. One turning point could come if operators were to mandate specification compliance. Weinberg said, "The most powerful adoption will come from operators, such as [existing LiPS members] France Telecom, Telecom Italia, and British Telecom. They want to roll out their services on LiPS’s API enabler specification."

In theory, standard APIs for Linux-based mobile phones, if widely adopted, could enable operators to roll out services faster, while enabling handset manufacturers to produce compatible new phones faster. Other beneficiaries could be ISVs (independent software vendors), mobile phone software stack providers, and of course, phone consumers, who after buying a new phone could re-install purchased applications and continue with existing services. Additional LiPS views on real vs. de facto standards can be found in a whitepaper comparing LiPS to Android, here.
There is a longer article on Linux Devices where I got my information.